mag

Heeb Issue #20 : Flashback

The Future is a Memory

Devo Gets Down on Square Pegs

Text by Brenna Ehrlich

When DEVO appeared on ’80s sitcom, Square Pegs (which starred Sarah Jessica Parker), they whipped everyone—from the censors to the actresses—into a frenzy. On the episode, the band headlines a “New Wave Bat Mitzvah.” Tame stuff, but behind the scenes—safe from the gaze of its teeny-boppin’ following—it was pretty wild.


“The girls were out of control—they were doing drugs and they were making out and they were coming on to us in a big way,” says Gerald V. Casale, DEVO bassist/synthesizer player. The musician vaguely recalls doing coke with Jami Gertz and SJP in the talent trailers. “They might have been 15 or 16, but in their heads they were already 40. I don’t think there was a virgin on the set, except maybe a couple of the guys,” he adds.


Despite the backstage debauchery, the censors weren’t about to let anything salacious hit the airwaves. Case in point: They nixed the video projection that DEVO put together to accompany “That’s Good.” In the video, “Bob [Casale] is being ridden like a horse by a blonde,” explains Casale. “Then an animated french fry flies through the air one way, and an animated glazed donut flies through the air the other way, and the french fry goes through the donut, and it cuts to the girl snapping her head back with a big smile on her face on the words, ‘That’s good.’”

 

Casale was bummed that the video didn’t make primetime, but that wasn’t his only regret after filming the famous episode: He had the hots for Jami Gertz, who played Bat Mitzvah girl Muffy Tepperman. “Why didn’t I do something about that?” he says.

 

comments

submit a comment
She-Ra says,

04.14.09 at 8:04 pm

omg they totally dished the goss. you need to have people or p6 pick this up for an item!

Jameson123 says,

10.29.09 at 4:10 pm

Maybe thats true. But I also heard about an adobe coupon code around here.

markweee says,

01.20.10 at 7:01 am

You should notice a new “Feed” fieldset where you should enter the URL (“Feed URL”) of the RSS feed you wish to import. Online Project Management degree AND Online Teaching learning degree

markweee says,

01.20.10 at 7:01 am

The Feed Item nodes can be used in Views like any other content type so you can create Views as normal. Must University AND Social Science degree AND online degree school

logo_icons2_129 Facebook MySpace YouTube Twitter RSS Feed

this issue

feature interview

Keel Over Beethoven

As the scruffy artists file into their lab for design class at Brooklyn multi-arts space, 3rd Ward, each

(read more)

features

Celebrity Skins

They dream of their big break, cranking out lyrics and licks, lusting after the limelight. They’re your typical rock band—only racist. (read more)

Ol’ Dirty Lawsuit

Russell Jones (a.k.a. ODB) got into a lot of trouble when he was alive. Now, nearly five years after his death, his biographer finds herself caught up in a web of legal woes. (read more)

photo feature

Straight Outta Brooklyn

Join us inside the creative spaces of six of our favorite emerging bands. (read more)

storytelling

The Professional

A rock journalist catches up with KISS and sees them without their makeup—in more ways than one. (read more)

the whole megillah

A Show of Hands

Rush bassist/lead singer Geddy Lee is a rock icon. He is also Gary Lee Weinrib, born in Willowdale,

(read more)

Eric Yahnker

Eric Yahnker’s left forearm is permanently marked by what he calls his “Heebraham” tattoo—a

(read more)

chai times

Chai Times with Sean Paul

The moment he rolls up to the joint—I mean, hotel suite—it’s easy to see that 36-year-old Jamaican

(read more)

the whole megillah

The Six-Year Itch

If he didn’t have his latest album as hard evidence, the affable DJ, producer, composer, and remixer Sam

(read more)

sheeb

Bound but Not Gagged

“Ellen or Rosie and I have nothing in common; they’re old-school joke tellers,” says Sandra

(read more)

bible studies

Just One Night

Getting groupies is not hard, but it is a nuanced game—somewhere between charades, capture the flag and

(read more)

honorary heeb

Me So Normal

What happens when a hip-hop svengali notorious for his sexual exploits and raunchy musical stylings

(read more)

milk & honey

Gimme Shelter

Nearly every morning, California filmmaker Laura Bialis and the rest of Sderot’s residents wake to a

(read more)

chosen/art

Erik Parker

Stationed in front of a large canvas, holding the tiniest brush I’ve ever seen, one of Erik Parker’s

(read more)

old testaments

Jerry Heller

Jerry Heller is the business mastermind behind the second great paradigm shift in modern pop music. In

(read more)

flashback

The Future is a Memory

When DEVO appeared on ’80s sitcom, Square Pegs (which starred Sarah Jessica Parker), they whipped

(read more)

nosh pit

Warm Lobster Salad

We Are the Fury’s percussionist Stephan Lublin quit touring with the band to work with a new kind of

(read more)

chosen/games

50 Cent: Blood in the Sand

On the surface, and even at its core, the latest videogame from 50 Cent is nothing short of a self-serving

(read more)

purchase a copy

go to the shop

Quantcast